Ohio law1 establishes the maximum fees a health care provider or medical records company can charge for copies of a patient’s medical record. The law also provides for certain limited situations in which copies of records must be provided without charge – for example, when the records are necessary to support a patient’s claim for Social Security disability benefits. The fee schedule is updated annually.

The amount healthcare providers can bill for copies of a patient’s medical record depends on who the request comes from – the patient, the patient’s personal representative, or someone other than the patient or the patient’s personal representative. A patient’s “personal representative” can be a minor patient’s parent or other person acting in loco-parentis, a court appointed guardian, a person holding a durable health care power of attorney, the executor of the patient’s estate, or the person otherwise responsible for the patient’s estate if it is not to be probated. The spouse of a patient, the adult child of a patient, or the attorney for a patient is not, by that fact alone, deemed to be the patient’s personal representative for purposes of the charges listed below.

For 2017, the following maximum fees apply when the request comes from a patient or a patient’s personal representative:

No records search fee is allowed

For data recorded on paper or electronically: $3.11 per page for the first ten pages; $0.65 per page for pages 11 through 50; $0.26 per page for pages 51 and higher

For data resulting from an X-ray, MRI, or CAT scan recorded on paper or film: $2.13 per page

The actual cost of postage may also be charged

For 2017, the following maximum fees apply when the request comes from a person or entity other than a patient or a patient’s personal representative:

A $19.17 records search fee

For data recorded on paper or electronically: $1.26 per page for the first ten pages; $0.65 per page for pages 11 through 50; $0.26 per page for pages 51 and higher

For data resulting from an x-ray, MRI, or CAT scan: $2.13 per page

The actual cost of postage may also be charged

Visit the Ohio Department of Health website (www.odh.ohio.gov) for the official schedule. If you have any questions, please contact the attorneys listed below.